The White Demon of Elements
by mb528
Summary: Hatake Kakashi finds a lone boy on a battlefield in Mizu no Kuni, supposedly it's a demon. If it is, then it's the cutest demon he has ever seen.
1. Prologue

_It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve and bad things are very easy to get - Confucius  
_

The crows were happy, feasting on the field full of corpses. The battle must have been a brutal one between two ninja villages at war. Their reasons for fighting and killing each other off didn't concern Hatake Kakashi, so long as it wasn't his village involved. Looking around he could make out 2 types of headbands on some of the dead ninja laying around. One of the headbands had three markings like raindrops on it, meaning kirigakure, on the other was two stones representing Iwagakure. Kakashi stood on the outskirts of the field, in Mizu no Kuni, looking around at the faces of the fallen ninja he could see that most of them were not really that old, if he was to guess they would be around sixteen to twenty.

Looking around remembering why he was there, he spotted the child they said was a corpse eating demon. Sitting on a corpse his back twoards Kakashi eating something by the looks of it, he couldn't make out much of his appearance other then the blonde and silver hair, the rags of what seems to be a filthy childs kimono and a sword hilt resting in the nook of his neck.

Walking up to the supposed demon, without him noticing, he stopped right behind him. The child was eating a rice ball, not flesh. Kakashi raised his and patted the boy on the head just as he was about to take another bite of the rice ball. Resting his hand on the boys head ruffling his hair slightly he spoke in a deep soothing voice ''I came here hearing about a corpse eating demon'' pausing for a few second as the boy looks up searching for a face and eyes, only to see one curious eye. ''Would that be you?'' not much changed on the boys face in terms of expression, he had the same one as when they first had eye contact, it was a hopefull and curious expression. Why he had a hopefull sort of expression he didn't know, he had techniclly just called the boy a demon.

Opting for an eye smile Kakashi spoke ''A rather cute demon'' not much more then a second passed before the boy dropped his rice ball slapped his hand away from his head, grabbed the sheath of his sword with his left han jumped back to gain some distance between himself and the stranger who touched his head. '_demon ? Just like they called me before, but why ?' _the boy thought eyeing the stranger top to bottom taking in his appearance.

The man wore black shinobi sandals, standard black anbu pants, the pants were tucked into the sandals and laced with black ninja bandages, he also had white bandages on his right thigh with a holster of sorts on the bandages. Looking at his midsection he spotted a mask clipped on his left hip, he wore a special shirt, it was black sleeveless all the way up to his shoulders and it was connected to a mask on his face, over the torso he wore a standard anbu vest, he wore black combat gloves with anbu armguards. He also saw a hilt sticking up on the strangers right hand side. Studying his face further he noted the mask cover every part of his face under his eyes. His left eye was closed with a scar over it, the other eye was black. His hair was silver leaning to the left side, with some tufts sticking down framing his face, he noted that the man didn't sport a headband like the people lying around him. '_so he's not a ninja? What's with the mask on his hip? Who is he ?'_ those were the questions running through his head.

Grabbing the hilt of the sword with his right hand and holding it infront and slightly above himself, the boy unsheathed the sword slowly, the sword was coverd in blood and it made a grinding sound on its trip out of the sheath, signifying that it had been used a lot, once unsheathed he discarded the sheath and opted for resting his left hand against the black of the blade.

''Did you take that from a corpse aswell ? A single child stripping corpse to protect himself, is it ? That's very impressive'' Kakashi said, and the child got deeper into his stance, now sporting a frown. ''However you no longer need that sword'' the boy loosend his stance a little '_so he doesn't want to fight me?'_ the boy thought a little relieved. Kakashi raised his right hand and gripped the hilt of the sword on his back, that's when the boy tensed widening his eyes, before narrowing them and hardend his stance again, and Kakashi spoke ''A sword that's only swung in self-defense, while fearing others, shoul be thrown away''

He he pulled the sheath from his back and held it for a little while before throwing the sword to the boy. The boy was caught off guard but caught the sword with his left hand and cradeling it in the nook of his neck, stumbling around a little to regain his footing, he looked up at the stranger with those curious eyes of his, eyes that looked so innocent. Kakashi took this time to take in the boys features, like how he had one sky blue eye and the other was maroon brown. He also had 3 whiskers on each cheek, his hair was spiky silver with blonde outlining it.

''I'll give you my sword'' Kakashi said as he turned around and started walking away leaving the boy there looking at his back dumbfounded. ''If you wish to properly use it, then come with me.'' Pausing a little for effect he continued. ''From now on you will swing that sword. Not to cut down your enemies. Not to cut away your weakness and protect yourself. But to protect your very soul.''

The boy dropped the scavanged sword in his right and unsheathed the one in his left a little bit, to get a look at it. The hilt it self was fairly long, in comparison to his hands, and it had diamond like holes all the way through, the guard was hollow in the shape of a clover. And the sheath was all black.

He turned his eyes on the stranger walking away once again. He didn't need to think twice about going with him, so long as he wasn't alone any more. He sheathed the sword completely and held it in his left hand as he began a little sprint after the stranger, once caught up with him within hearing rage he yelled loud enough for him to hear ''Heeey, mr stranger wait up!'' Kakashi stopped in his lazy stride out of the field and turned to look at the boy running up to him, when the boy caught up he simply looked at him waiting for him to catch his breath and tell him his answer.

''I'll go with you.'' Kakashi eye smiled at that and crouched down to eye level holding out his right hand to the boy. ''My name is Hatake Kakashi, nice to meet you.'' The boy look at his hand, then at his eye smiling face, then back to his hand before grabbing it and giving him a grin and shaking his hand. ''Naruto, Sakata Naruto. Nice to meet you too'' Naruto said, kakashi couldn't help but smile harder when he saw the grin on his face. ''Naruto, we are going to Hi no Kuni. Think you're up for the trip?'' Kakashi asked, the determined look that formed on his face spoke volumes of his answer. ''Good, you can call me Kakashi-sensei from now on'' Kakashi said with an eye smile.

Naruto got a strange feeling from this man, he had never felt it before but, he could guess what it was. He was no longer alone, no more solitude and hopefully no more hate and pain. Hopefully where they were going people didn't look at him with disgusted looks for being poor and homeless and parent less. No, he knew he had already gained something from this man, he had gained a father figure. That was all he could ever ask for.


	2. Chp 1 : The Journey Starts Now !

_Real living is living for others. - Bruce Lee_

Three weeks, that's how long Sakata Naruto has been traveling with Hatake Kakashi from Mizu no Kuni to and through various different places in Hi no Kuni. During wich time Naruto has had a change of wardrobe on the expense of Kakashi's wallet, not that it botherd Kakashi, after all he did have a vast sum of money saved over the years being a ninja and an Anbu agent.

The wardrobe change suited the young boy, he now wore black shinobi sandals reaching some ways up his shin, with baggy black anbu pants tucked into his sandals. He also wore plate shin guards with carvings of Dragons on them. His right thigh was bandaged much like every other ninja had. He also wore a sleeveless black torso like Kakashi had with mask and all, except that the mask didn't cover as much of his face as it did with Kakashi, just enough to cover the whiskers on his face. Kakashi would have protested if he hadn't witnessed it himself, how the people in Mizu no Kuni were glaring at the boys face, made him uneasy. How can you glare with such intensity at one of the cutest faces Kakashi had ever seen, granted he didn't know the boy all to well but Kakashi had a weakness for all things cute. He also wore black fingerless battle gloves with plate guards on them, same type of carving as his shin guards. The two last things was that he had a headband with kanji for 'Cute Demon' on it, and on his back was the sword his sensei had given him. The fact that he wore the headband was testament to his reading skills.

Over the past three weeks Kakashi learned more and more about his new student, about his treatment in his former village. The amount of animosity this kid has dealt with, Kakashi made a promise with his student, that he wouldn't be alone any more. That he would share in his pain and push on through life no matter how difficult it would get.

Having stopped to rest for a while, Naruto started rummaging through his backpack for his water canteen. Kakashin just stod there for a while and took in Naruto's appearance from top to bottom Kakashi eye smiled and chuckled in the sweetest tone he could while thinking to himself '_cutest mini-me student in the world _'. Naruto caught wind of his chuckling sensei, eyeing his sensei suspicously Naruto spoke up ''Oi, Sensei, what's funny ?''. Kakashi thought he might aswell have some fun with his student ''Oh, it's just, I was thinking about how I'm glad I took you on as a student'' they both eye smiled and he continued ''And I have a plan, that I want to let you in on. Concerning what will happen when we reach our destination.'' That caught his attention, he had planned to ask him about what was going to happen and where they were going, but if he was to just up and tell him, fine.

''We're heading for Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. Once there we'll be meeting with the leader of the village, and then I'm going to teach you.'' Kakashi said with a fatherly like voice, atleast that's what it sounded like for Naruto. ''I'm going to teach you how to read and how to write, and how to fight.'' ''And I'm going to teach you bushido.''

Silence ensued, Naruto wasn't much of a talker, mostly just replying if asked a question. Only talking if something peeked his interest. At the moment Naruto was just silently contemplating his 'Sensei', three weeks ago this man found him and offerd to change his life. Was it fate or just chanced luck. '_Would I be dead ? If not for him ? Would they have found me ? Was this what chino-san was talking about ? I have a part to play, is this it ?'_

''Well, let's keep going. We'll be in Konoha by midday.'' And with Kakashi's final words they were off. Walking in a moderate pase Naruto drifted his thoughts back to Mizu no Kuni, remembering the treatment by the people there. And the only person whom ever wished him well.

_Flashback_

_Opening his eyes Naruto was looking up the sky, that clear blue sky with some lone clouds drifting by. He liked the clouds, clouds have true freedom as in they can go where ever they want, when ever they want. Nobody can stop the clouds, the clouds are their own masters._

_''That's what I want ? To be able to travel the world ?'' he spoke to himself. 'Maybe, maybe people would like me if I were to go somewhere else' he thought to himself._

_Sitting up with a grunt he spoke to himself rather calmly ''Impossible, demons are hated throughout the world'' getting up and preparing to leave the area. ''That's absolutely correct'' a figure spoke from behind him, slightly riggid voice of an old woman. Her voice startled him, he spun around quckly faceing her, she had a grim expression on her face, and that look in her eyes...pain._

_''There is absolutely no place in this world for demons. No matter what village, someone considerd a goes to, there will always be people whom dislike them.''_

_'Hold on, I know her.'_

_''Miya Chino'' I spoke with acknowledgement in my voice, for her words were true. ''Naruto'' she said, a smile graced her lips however small it was. ''There are many forms of demons in this world. As a matter of fact, there is a demon in most men, do you know wich demon you have inside of you ?''_

_I was looking at the ground, my silver hair shadowing my multi colored eyes, hiding the pain they showed. This was a new one, she had thaught me a lot about the race of humans, and she often spoke of the demons inside of them. But, she had never come out and asked me if I knew wich one I was. I was caught off guard by that question. What was I to answer, hell if I knew what demon I was. All I knew was that people didn't like me, and I didn't like people hurting those weaker then themselves. I first found out that people didn't perticularily like me when I stopped a gang of kids from beating on a boy and his dog. When I saw it, anger filled my head, my hands were trembling and I found myself walking and then sprinting in to ward of the attackers. I threw a punch on the one who was to hit next. My fist connected with his chin and sent him reeling backwards, he and the others we're shocked, and then anger filled them as well. Clouded their heads as it did with me. I was beaten badly, but it was worth it for they forgot about the boy and his dog. That made me content. When the beating seemingly stopped I peered up at the kids, and the one I hit, sneered at me and called me a demon. I played the word in my head...demon. It was bitter sounding and stung hard. Now I was just looking up at the sky and contemplating the word 'demon' in my head. Shortly after snow started falling, and I was losing consciousness._

_She was looking at me with a calm yet sad expression, Chino-san was the only person who had ever bother talking to me with out yelling demon at the top of her lungs. She showed me something I had never seen before, compassion. She found me one snowy winter day, beaten to a pulp and left in the middle of the street. She took me in, to her house, tended to my bruises and wounds. Fed me and looked after me, and when I was better she thaught me stuff about people._

_''No...I don't know what demon I have inside of me'' I finally said. Silence ensued for a moment before she spoke up ''Would you like me to tell you ?'' I peered up at her through my hair showing some of my eyes, and the sadness and confusion they held._

_''Yes'' at that she looked like she was considering how she would say it. She decided to be blunt and just tell me ''Truth be told, you don't just have a demon inside of you, you are a demon of sorts yourself.'' If I was confused I didn't show it, my expression was blank. But my mind was haywire 'So I'm a demon after all' I thought, my face taking on a grim expression, she took it as her que to elaborate. ''When I say you are a demon of sorts, why do you automatically think the worst ?'' now I was definetly confused and my face showed it. ''Firstly let me tell you about the one inside of you. The one inside of you is a Bijuu, one of nine in the whole world. They go from one to nine their number is depicted by the amounts of tails they have and their strength is depicted my their tails. Yours is the nine tails, kyuubi.'' she paused and gave me some time to soak it all up, I mean it's not everyday someone tells you that you are a demon, with a demon inside of you. ''As for how and why you have it inside of you, nobody knows. And now for the demon you are...of listen up this is important. You are going to leave this village, and go into the world. Because you have a part to play, and depending on how you play that part, will you activate the demon you are. You will be part of deeds beyond your wildest dreams, you will meet many different people. You will lose things close to you, but you will also gain a whole lot of things. Depending on all of this the demon you are will awaken and you will either wreak havoc and destroy the things you hold dear, or you will defeat your inner demons and protect the things you hold dear.''_

_I was shocked to say the least. Here this old woman standing infront of me was telling me my future, did her age finally catch up to her or is she actually not senile and telling the truth. My inner turmoil was slowing down, and I wanted to know more. Like why I have the Kyuubi in me, and why everyone else knows I'm a demon._

_''What am I supposed to do ?'' my voice was confused, and rightly so. But did I have a reason to doubt this old woman, she has never lied to me before and I can't see a reason for her to do so now. ''You have to leave, doesn't matter where, so long as you decide where you go. I know I said demons have no place in this world to go, that is why you have to find a place and claim it as your own. Your fate is in your hands, now you have the opportunity to set out and forge it. You have to leave now, the others won't notice your absence before tomorrow and by then you should be some distance away from here.'' I didn't need to be told twice, turning away from her I started walking, not to far before stopping and turning my head to peer at her from the corner of my eye. ''Thank you Chino-san-'' she smiled at me, and I continued on my way out of there. This was the easy part, this is what I wanted 'Right ?', yes, I will find my place, and I'll claim it. I will find people to hold dear, and I will protect them._

_End of flashback_

Walking on the road to konoha in Hi no Kuni wasn't so bad, compared to Mizu no Kuni, the weather was nice, the sun was beaming on the clear sky. The birds were chirping their happy tunes. Kakashi nearing the gates of konoha with Naruto picking his nose with one hand and the other behind his head gazing up at the sky in tow thought about what people would think about the boy, he would be accepted among his close friends and the hokage. But he had to ensure that nobody called him a demon ever again.

''Yo Naruto'' Kakashi called behind himself as they continued walking down the road. ''What is it, sensei ?'' he responded ''Once inside the village, keep the mask on at all times. To refrain from having people call you things that are not true.'' a few seconds of silence and he responded, with an indifferent yes. ''Oh and one more thing, how would you like for me to adopt you ?''

That got him to stop in his tracks, staring at his sensei with wide eyes. ''What ? You want to adopt me ? Why ?'' Kakashi turned to look at him with his trademark eye smile ''Well I was just thinking since you're alone and I'm alone we could be a family.''

Naruto didn't know what to say, his sensei was willing to adopt him. He had already promised to shoulder his pain, but this meant shouldering everything with him. Pain, hate and he would no longer be alone. He would have a family, he would be his father.

No answer was needed, Kakashi knew he agreed when he looked into his eyes, they were shining. Tears, but they were the kind of tears that he had never shed before. Tears of happiness, tears of acceptance. Kakashi eye smiled and utterd a single word that made everything perfect for Naruto ''Musuko (Son)''


	3. Chp 2 : Bushido is better, trust me

_Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. - Albert Camus_

The streets were filled with people and from a distance you could here the everyday noises of people going about heir business. The sounds of carts with goods for stores being hauled up and down the roads, the everyday civilian go about his/her business with their family, various foods stalls fizzling with food on the stoves, children running around laughing and playing ninja.

From the tallest building in the village you could see all of that, even hear it if you opend a window. This was the view from Sarutobi Hiruzens office, overlooking the village he had a small smile on his lips due to his thought. He was thinking about current and past great ninja, and how many of them were from this very village. For instance the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the very man who founded this village with his friend Uciha Madara, and was also famed for his mokuton release. Then you had the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who had been Hiruzens sensei when he was growing up, he created several jutsu. Two most famous would be Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Edo Tensei no Jutsu, however they were only created for the soul purpose of war and were late deemed dangerous thus being outlawed. Then you had the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, being a modest man in his own thoughts he doesn't like to think to highly of himself, but he wasn't elected hokage by Tobirama Senju right before his death for no reason. He was indeed strong, a top tier shinobi in his prime, but now he thinks himself a little less then that, he was widely known as the professor because he had a somewhat vast knowledge of jutsu and how to efficiently use them. All in all despite his age he could still pack a punch. Then you had the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, how he had died still eludes Hiruzen for he was the strongest shinobi to be produced in this village in the last three decades or so. He was famous for being the fastest shinobi alive, he studied one of Tobirama Senjus most used jutsu, a space time jutsu. He perfected the jutsu, and made it a part of his battle strategy, the jutsu revolved around kunai with seals on them. He would throw the kunai and could instantly teleport to the kunai by activating the seal, that technique along with his very own jutsu, one he made himself from scratch wich took him 3 years, made him one of the deadliest shinobi alive. The jutsu he made was named rasengan, the user conentrated a mass of chakra in the palm of his hand whilst compressing it. The sheer power of the jutsu when thrust against an opponent would send them flying back with internal damage if the user felt nice, the most interesting thing about it was that it wasn't even a finished jutsu.

Now he was thinking about hiw own students, The Toad Sage Jiraya, The Slug Princess Tsunade Senju and The Genius Orochimaru. They were dubbed 'The Three Legendary Sannin' by none other then Hanzo of the Salamander, he deemed them worthy for holding their own against him in battle and gave them the title of sannin. He also told them to get stronger, so that they could have great battle in the future before he let them go. They are each legendary in their own way, Jiraya being a force to be reckoned with has the toads fighting with him in battle and his use of Sage mode makes him a strong fighter. He was also the teacher of the Yondaime Hokage. Tsunade is widely known as the best medic nin in the elemental nations and the worst gambler, and her chakra enhanced strength can crush just about anything. She can also summon the slug Katsuyu, to help heal in the thick of battle. Orochimaru is mostly known for being a genius, at a young age he impressed his elders with his intellect and aptness for jutsu. He was however changed when his parents passed away, then he became obsessed with jutsu and set a goal for learning them all. He also started kidnapping children to experiment on, most of wich ended in failure and loss of the childs life, but some were succesfull. Upon his experiments being discoverd he defected from konoha and became a missing nin.

And then there was Hatake Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi at an early age showed high promise for the shinobi arts, training vigorously under his father. As the years passed and he was in the early years of the academy his father passed away. Cause of death was suicide, his father had abandoned the mission in order to save his comrades. This lead to him dishonering himself and his name, and that drove him into depression and he took his own life. This changed Kakashi immensly, Kakashi became ashamed of his father and cursed his death as cowardly and Kakashi was determined to live by the ninja guidelines. Now under the guidelines of mission first, Kakashi cared little for others. He thought there was no need for friends, his mind was set on being a tool rid of emotions. He graduated the academy early in a single year at the top of his class, he was later put on a team with Nohara Rin and Uciha Obito under Namikaze Minato. As time passed a war started and the team progressed in form of teamwork, Kakashi got a promotion, and they were given a mission wich Kakashi was to lead. The mission was simple in Kakashi's eyes, they were to destroy Kannabi bridge, atleast it would have been simple if not for one of his teammates getting captured and the other wanting to rescue her due to personal feelings. Kakashi tried to stop his teammate, but he didn't wanto hear any of it, and instead tried to change Kakashi's mind. He told Kakashi that he considered his father a hero, who chose to save his comrades instead of completing the mission. After Obito left to save Rin, Kakashi contemplated Obito's words about his father and then he thought about Rin's prior kindness twoards him, wich in turn made him change his mind and set out to find his teammates. During their search they encountered some enemy shinobi, during the encounter Kakashi lost the use of his left eye and Obito awakened his clan dojutsu 'The Sharingan' wich helped them win the fight. Continuing their search for Rin they came to a cave and found her bound to a post under a genjutsu, they released her from the genjutsu and proceeded to walk out of the cave. However outside the cave an enemy shinobi performed a earth jutsu that made the cave start to collapse and on their run out of the cave Obito sacrificed his own life for Kakashi. Seeing Obito half crushed under the rock broke Kakashi and Obito gave his left eye to Kakashi as a promotional present. Obito made Kakashi promise to protect Rin from danger and had them leave him there to die. The current emotional turmoil in Kakashi's head made him snap at the enemy group of shinobi outside the cave and killed them all. Some months later Nohara Rin was captured by Kirigakure and made the vessel of the bijuu Isobu in the hopes of unleashing it in Konoha, Kakashi managed to save her but were surrounded by kiri hunter nin. Trying to fight of the hunter nin, Rin jumped infront of Kakashi's assassination jutsu Raikiri, because she knew the plan that Kirigakure had fore her. Staring into Rin's eyes Kakashi felt his head spin and his eyes tearing up, she did mouth some parting words, but only Kakashi knows those. He passed out shortly after and awoke with all the hunter nin dead around him. And he was found by Konoha ninja and brought back. For a long time after the events with Rin, Kakashi was having a hard time coping with the fact that he was now alone, both his teammates were dead and he didn't know what to do with himself. Kakashi discarded his nindo for something else, bushido, way of the warrior. He joined Anbu and asked for a long term mission in Tetsu no Kuni, so he could Learn bushido from a master there. He was taught bushido from Mifune the leader of the samurai, Mifune imparted on Kakashi all he knew. Within 6 years Kakashi had mastered all aspects of bushido, he found that bushido was a much kinder way of life then nindo.

This was the man standing behind him, with a mini-Kakashi next to him. Hiruzen turned around eyeing both of them, more so the mini-Kakashi. He was truly an identical copy. Deciding to dig a little Hiruzen spoke up ''Why ?''

Kakashi looked at Naruto to his left whom just looked back at him with a lazy expression on his face. Still looking at Naruto he said ''It's time, I have spilled my fair share of blood through the years, I have lost a fair share of friends and teammates. Besides I promised the man that taught me bushido that I wouldn't use my skills playing ninja.'' turning to Sarutobi with an eye smile.

With a heavy sigh Sarutobi spoke ''I guess it can't be helped then, I can't force you to continue. I Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, hearby relieve you Hatake Kakashi of your shinobi and anbu status of the leaf. If you would please place your mask and headband on the table.'' Kakashi wasted no time and complied, taking out his leaf headband from a satchel on his back and unclipping his anbu mask from the left side of his waist he putthem both on the table. ''You know technically I wsn't a shinobi.'' he said before stepping back to Naruto. ''It doesn't really matter, only I knew you dropped nindo for bushido, none of your comrades knew that, if anyone knew you wouldn't have been allowed to be on active duty as an anbu by the village. I couldn't let that happen, you were instrumental Kakashi.'' clearly the wrong answer since Kakashi seemed agitated by his words and spoke his mind ''That's exactly the problem, I don't want to be the instrument to kill any more, If I am to be an instrument it is to teach young minds about bushido and not to discard their own emotions for the mission and abandoning their comrades, instead make strong bonds. Bonds that can shape these nations into something else. Hopefully putting an end to the pain and suffering that is breeding hate through out the lands.'' Sarutobi was regretting his choice of words, he knew he didn't fancy the ninja life.

''What are you going to be doing now, you mentioned teaching young minds.'' Hiruzen peered at his former number one anbu agent. ''I have enough money to live contently the rest of my life. But, I have a plan, it involves opening a school for orphans, to teach them how to read and how to write, aswell as bushido. I want to give a home to those that don't have one.''

''I'm guessing then, that he'' Sarutobi said pointing at Naruto who looked even more bored on the verge of sleeping standing up ''Is going to be one of your students then'' Kakashi simply replied ''Yes Hokage-sama, I found him scavenging a battlefield to protect himself, this boy was dealt a bad hand in life, and I aim to change it'' They both looked at Naruto who was still fighting sleep in a standing position ''And how will you do that, simply teaching him bushido, to read and write won't change much.''

''I'm going to adopt him'' that caught Sarutobi's attention ''What ?'' he asked slightly confused and shocked ''I said I'm going to adopt him, shoulder his pain and give him a home and a reason to live.''

Getting over his slight shock, Sarutobi just chuckled. ''You know, you didn't turn out so bad Kakashi'' Kakashi was a little puzzled at the statement ''Your father would have been proud of you, as would your sensei.'' That made Kakashi more confident in his choice, over the years he had come to forgive his fathers suicide. It wasn't cowardice, he was a brave man who dared defy the way of the ninja. But in the end was crushed by the hate of others, that was also a reason for stopping his career as a ninja and turning to teaching orphans and embracing bushido. Maybe one of them would end up changing the world for the better.

''Well, I'll help you set up the school, where were you planing on building this school ?''

''Thank you Hokage-sama, I was thinking maybe the outskirts of the village. That's where the peace and quite is.'' Kakashi turned to leave after pushing Naruto out of his sleeping stupor when he stopped as the hokage spoke a final time.

''Two more things Kakashi, firstly what's the boys name and secondly what will you name the school ?''

Pointing at the boy ''That's Sakata Naruto, as for the name of the school, hmm... How about School of the Ten Thousand Flames ?'' with that he bowed and turned to leave with Naruto.

'_Bushido School for Orphans, huh ? I guess it can't be helped., bushido is really sticking with him'_ he thought as he looked at the backs of a young adult and his adopted son retreating out of his office. Chuckeling lightly he turned to gaze out over the village once again with a smile on his lips _'A small storm just arrived in my village, I can barely wait to see how it develops'_


	4. A New Acquaintance

_To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. - Oscar Wilde _

'Who is that ?' a young blonde girl thought as she was entering her teams training ground. Some fifteen feet away a lone boy with silver hair outlined by blonde was taking a nap under a tree, in her teams training ground no less. She had never seen him before, and she was going to give him a piece of her mind. That's what she was supposed to do anyway. Getting ever closer to the stranger, she noticed the mask on his face and his head band. It didn't represent any village wich seemed strange to her. Taking a closer look at the head band, it read 'Cute demon'. ''Ooii, what do you think you're doing here ?'' she stated slightly agitated that someone had the nerve to sleep here. He opend his eyes and she forgot the reason she was talking to him.

One sky blue eye and one maroon brown eye looking up at her lazily. He hesitated to answer her at first, but seeing as it was a girl and she was alone why not. ''Isn't it obvious ?'' he asked, she barely registered his words as she was still dazed by those eyes. Those beautiful eyes, melting her soul by the second, giving her cheeks a small tint of red. She managed to stutter a response ''I-i d-d-don't k-know. Wasting your time ?'' her answer was rewarded with two smiling eyes. ''That's exactly what I'm not doing, I'm living life to the fullest.'' she just looked stupidly at him 'Is he stupid ? He's just like Shikamaru lazing about, throwing his life away.' he noticed the look and spoke up ''When was the last time you did something you wanted to do ?'' it was a simple question, but she didn't actually have an answer. She never did something she wanted to do. She always did what others wanted her to do. She didn't really know what she wanted to do, and decided to just answer with a typical kid ninja ''Training'', the way she said it made it sound more like a question then a statement, though she half believed it.

He just looked unconvinced back at her, eventually he laid his head back down and continue asking her questions ''why ?''. A few seconds of silence before she answerd ''Because I want to be the best kunoichi that ever lived.'' she stated firmly. She was rewarded with a sigh and him getting up and starting his walk out of the training ground. ''I don't mean to crush your dreams, but that's impossible.'' he was stopped in his lazy stride out of there by a hand on his wrist. ''why do you say that ? Because I'm a girl ? You don't belive a woman can be a good ninja ?'' the anger was clear in her voice, he turned to look into her eyes but they were downcast and shadowed by her hair. ''Isn't it better to sleep your life away, love someone and be content and happy, then train your ass into the ground every day so that you could be the best at killing other people and taking them away from other people that love them ?'' now she was staring into his eyes and he carried on ''What would you have to show for it in the end ? When you're finally at the top someone will come along, kill you and take your place as the strongest. If that's the way you want to live your life then that's your choice.'' he was right and he knew it, for a 13 year old kid he wasn't dumb.

She let go of his wrist and just continued to look into those eyes ''Then...what do you suggest ?'' she found her self asking. ''Live your life to the fullest doing things others consider to be a waste of time, find someone to love, who'll love you the same way back. Find people who will stand by you in bad times and good times, who'll share in your pain and happiness.'' she was dazed once again, the words that parted his lips was the truth, at least that's what it sounded like. Now he was walking out of there, but she wanted one more piece of information from him.

''Wait !'' she yelled after him, he stopped and turned to look at her. ''What's your name ?'' he just looked lazily at her and started picking his nose. That action alone got him a disgusted look from the girl ''Sakata Naruto, nice to meet you.'' he offered her his hand. Her eyebrows started twitching. She didn't want to shake that hand, it was the same one he used to pick his nose with. ''What's wrong ? don't want to shake my hand ?'' she got a tick mark on her forehead _'of course I don't want to shake your hand !'_ she fumingly innerly raged ''Aahh noo, it's just my hand are really sweaty that's all !'' she laughed in an awkward tone. ''Ahh I see, well, I'll see you around.'' once again he resumed walking out of there. Not getting far before he heard her voice again ''Don't you want to know my name ?'' turning once again he just looke lazily at her and nodded his head not at all interested, if he was going to be honest he just wanted to go home and take a nap. ''My names Yamanaka Ino from the Yamanaka family.'' he just nodded and turned around very eager to get home. Walking with his eyes closed he heard ''It was sort of nice to meet you !'' not bothering to much more then raise his hand in a wave like manner while still walking he stopped. 'Huh, did I hit a wall ?' he thought, wait a minute. His hand was firmly on something soft, squeezing a little on the unfamiliar feeling in his hand he heard a slight moan and a gasp.

Hearing a moan was always good, but if you heard a gasp after it didn't bode well. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked up into red shocked eyes. Her face was so red he thought she was sick, then he saw where his hand was and squeezed once more. Another moan 'This is bad' he thought as he looke into those red eyes that just promised death to him. ''I can expla...'' he was cut short by an outburst from the woman whos breast he had just fondled. '' PERVERT !'' was ringing in his ears followed by a punch to the face that rendered him unconscious.

_'Did I just die ?'_ he thought to himself 'no, I can feel my body moving' and moving it was. He opend his eyes to see the lady that had given him the punch of his life flailing his body around. Her grip was firmly around his throat, he could see her mouth moving. He could make out the last sentence to leave her mouth before she dropped him to the ground. _'perfect, he could be my scape goat'_ he thought with relief as he answerd her ''Hatake Kakashi, that's my father.'' he said. Relief came and went as he soon found him self dragged by the hem of his shirt behind the fuming female. He would be dead when this was all over, atleast he would take his father down with him.

Ino couldn't help let a small giggle escape her as she watched Naruto be dragged out of the training ground. The boy she had know not only 10 minutes had just groped Yuhi Kurenai. If she would see him again after Kurenai was done with him was unlikely, still it wouldn't be so bad if he lived through it all. He had given her some good insight to life and she was damned if she wasn't going to at least try it. If she saw him again she would be sure to get more out of him. For a mere boy that didn't look much older then her to have such realistic viewpoints, rare. Now she wanted to see him again, look into those beautiful eyes of his, maybe peek under the mask aswell. _'Getting to know him a little won't hurt, right ?'_ with that thought she would make sure to look for him later. Right now she was going to figure out what she wanted to do, what did she want to spend her life doing. If she was going to be honest, a nap didn't sound too bad.

_Not more then 15 minutes later_

''Hatake Kakashi, come out here now !'' that voice was angry, and it didn't like saying his name. Opening the entrance door to the house he and Naruto lived in he saw his death, before him stood Yuhi Kurenai in all her fuming anger and glory holding a half unconscious Naruto by his shirt. ''Whatever he did I had nothing to do with it.'' the words fell upon deaf ears as something connected with his face and he was not of this world any longer, or so he thought.

Eyes opening to look at the sky, blinking rapidly to get used to the bright light. He sat up to survey his surroundings, he spotted another person not more then two feet from him. The person looked to be dead, before stirring a little seemingly coming back to life. You couldn't really tell who he was until he raised his head, and you could see he wore a mask and had a scar over his left eye. ''What did you do to enduce that womans anger ?'' Kakashi asked his son and student whom just gave an eye smile and simply answerd ''I fondled her breast.'' That was all that was needed as Kakashi seemed to beam now full of life. ''Naruto, that's like second base. What did it feel like ? Are they as soft as I imagine them to be ?'' this was bonding, they had a mutual interest of the female body. They continued to giggle and talk for hours and hours about the Icha Icha series, Kurenai's breasts and what she did to Kakashi. Apparantly he got the beating of his life.

Time spent in the leaf passed by fairly uneventful. Months passed by as Naruto trained on his swordsmanship under Kakakshi. Kakakshi had told him that he was picking up on it rather quickly and was doing quite well for his age. There was also the blonde girl that was trying to find him, and he had avoided her to the best of his ability, until now.

He was sitting in a food stand that served ramen, probably the best in the village by his account, Ichiraku ramen. Behind him was a blonde girl around his age waiting for an answer, what could she possibly want from him. ''If you want, you can meet me at the place of our first meeting in an hour. I'll answer any and all questions you have.'' a few seconds of silence ment she was thinking about it, though it didn't take too long for her to answer ''That's fine with me.'' he got up paid for the food he had consumed, grabbed his sword turned around pushed the curtains aside and started walking down the road. ''Great, see you soon. Ino.'' he said walking away from the girl.

_Training ground ten_

Exactly an hour later Ino walked into her teams training ground and spotted him sitting by a tree next a pond. It was dark out but she could clearly see him, the moon light lit the training ground up. He was sitting in to ground leaning against the tree staring up at the sky, his sword resting against his neck. He sometimes threw some pebble in the pond, he must have brought them himself since the training ground was plain dirt and grass.

Getting ever closer he noticed her at the edge of his peripheral vision and he turned to look at her, and she looked into those dreamy eyes before they closed and seemed to be smiling at her. She closed the distance and sat down obliquely next to him, so that she was looking the direction he was looking and she could easily turn to look at him.

''Beautiful isn't it ?'' he asked gazing at the sky. ''What is ?'' she asked actually not knowing what he was talking about, she was still thinking about his eyes though she doubted that was what he was talking about. ''The sky, clouds, the moon and the stars.'' that prompted her to look up aswell, taking in the various stars dangling above them high up on the sky. The moon softly beaming light down on them, some clouds slowly passing by, and the ever darkening sky letting the stars and the moon show their never wavering beauty. ''Now that I'm actually taking my time to study it clearly, I can see the beauty.'' she calmly stated, he turned his head twoards her and gave her a soothing and seemingly soft eye smile.

''I'm guessing you're itching to ask me all sorts of questions that you didn't get to ask me last time, because I was in such a hurry to get out of your way.'' he calmly said gazing up at the sky once again. ''Yeah, I do. But I'm guessing there are some things you don't want to answer.'' a quick reply was the go ahead ''No, ask and I will answer any and all question. No question is too personal or too stupid to be answerd.'' with a smile she started thinking about some questions before voicing them.

''Are you from this village, I don't think I have ever seen you before, except for that day we met here. And who are your parents ?'' she asked curiousness evident in her voice ''I am as a matter of fact not from this village, I was born and raised in a small poor village in mizu no Kuni, no wonder you've never seen me before. As for who my parents are, I have no idea. I was told my parents died when I was young, so young that I can't remember them. Maybe I never had any parents to begin with and I was simply lied to by people that didn't like me. Currently Hatake Kakashi has adopted me, and is treating me better then anyone has ever done before. He saved me, sort of.''

All of that was said while shifting his gaze between Ino and the beautiful sky above them, she was øeft with a sad look on her face that didn't suit her. ''What's with the sad look ?'' he asked in a playful manner getting her to look into his eyes ''That sad look doesn't go well with your pretty face'' her cheeks were strawberry red now.

''You think I'm pretty ?'' Ino asked shocked, a boy had never told her that she was pretty before, so for her to hear it for the first time kind of baffled her. ''Of course I do, you have beautiful blue eyes, long nice blonde hair...'' her cheeks reddening he finished ''...and a cute nose to boot.'' he broke eye contact with her, chuckled a bit and threw a pebble into the pond before gazing up at the moon again ''I suppose you want to ask me more question ?'' she got out of her blushing daze trying to come up with a question, fast. A few moment passed and she had another question ''When we first met, you left me with some...things to think about, I was wondering who taught you those things. I mean, only experienced people would know that I suppose.''

''My adoptive father, Kakashi, told me all sorts of things. He told me about the hardships of being a ninja, taught me about this cruel world we live in. I know I want to do something about it, but I don't know where to start.'' a small silence ensued, he handed her a pebble and she threw it into the pond ''You said he saved you of sorts. What did you mean by that ?''

''He found me in Mizu no Kuni, I had just run away from the village I was living in. Though I probably wasn't in any immediate danger, I would probably have been beat within an inch of my life had he not found me before the villagers.'' that caught her full attention, and he was still care free throwing pebble after pebble into the pond. She was feeling something, in the pit of her stomach '' Why ? Why would they do that to you ?'' sadness clear as day in her voice.

He sighed contemplating whether to tell her or not, he decided to make sure she wanted to know he had of course promised to tell her anything she wanted to know ''Are you sure you really want to know ? If you really want to know, then you need to know that you will not look at me the same and you need to promise me not to tell anyone about what I might tell you.'' she had never heard him use a serious tone like that before, she swallowed the tight knot in her throat ''Y-yes, I'm sure and I promise not to tell.'' he gazed into her eyes before shutting his own.

''I'm not well liked where I'm from, because, well because I'm a demon.'' he said not daring to look at her face in fear of her looking at him with disgust. He had just taken a huge gamble telling her.

''You're a demon ?'' she asked curiously. A low yes was all she heard.

''Can you prove that ?'' the question made him turn to look at her, he expected to see a different look then what he saw. She looked at him curiously and kindly with a small smile on her face that made him trust her enough to show her his demonic features.

''I-if you really want to.'' he said han cupped the top of his mask ''But I understand if you run when you see me.'' and with those words he pulled the mask down below his chin and she gazed at his whole face for the first time. Very prominent and defined whiskers on his cheeks, canines sticking out from under his lips giving him a best like look. She reached out a hand before stopping herself ''May I ?'' he nodded and she reached out to feel his cheek. It felt like whiskers, as she rubbed his cheek he made a slight content purring sound and closing his eyes.

When he noticed he was purring he blushed so furiously, that Inos earlier blush was nothing. That made her giggle a little and smile at him, he just looked oddly at her. ''You don't detest me ?''

''Why would I do that ? I first now understand your headband.'' she said with a small laugh, a laugh filled with happiness and joy.

His mind went blank, here he was. A demon boy with a beautiful girl that didn't hate him for what he looked like when so many others did. She found him interesting, and actually stroked his cheek making him purr. He had never had this level of intimacy before, but he liked it, made him feel accepted.

She continued to stroke his cheek while they gazed into each others eyes, he found a feeling in his gut, a feeling he had never felt before. What was with this feeling, it made him kind of quezy inside, made him feel weird but also good at the same time.

This went on for some time, when she stopped stroking his cheek he pulled the mask back up. After throwing some more pebbles into the pond, she continued on to barrage him wuth questions, they talked laughed and bonded long into the night. Neither of them caring for the time of day, both just enjoying each others company.

The more they talked the closer Ino got to him, and eventually fell asleep on his shoulder. He just sat there gazing at the sky with a smile underneath his mask. Breaking away from the sky he opted for getting her home.

He picked her up bridal style carrying her out of the training ground, setting a course for her parents house. Only reason he knew where she lived was because he followed her one time just to see what places she frequented so that he could best avoid her. Only, now he regrets having avoided her.

The feeling though, he still had it, everytime he looked at her it got stronger. He needed to ask someone about it, and only person he could think of was his father. She nuzzled into his chest as he was carrying her and the feeling got stronger, now he knew it had something to do with her. He hoped it wasn't something bad.


End file.
